1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for use in inspecting a central processing unit (CPU) and a method thereof. More specifically, the device and the method thereof in accordance with the present invention detect a defect of a CPU by enabling the CPU to repeatedly execute a reference hardware inspection program to generate a good log and an erroneous log and then comparing the good log with the erroneous log.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
With development of science and technology, computers have become a kind of indispensable tool to people's daily life. As a main component of a computer, quality of a central processing unit (CPU) has a direct influence on performance of the operating system of the computer. Additionally, as the operating system programs get increasingly diversified, the CPU must be designed to execute various operating system programs with optimized performance so as to add to the market value thereof.
Generally, in order to have the CPU execute an operating system program normally, a usual practice in the art is to employ expensive hardware facilities to detect for any defect of the CPU by using the hardware facilities to access the CPU directly. Hence, a manufacturer having more expensive hardware facilities will be able to detect defects of a CPU more effectively and, thus, have a higher chance to design a CPU with high performance and stability. As a result, costs associated with the expensive hardware facilities will be reflected directly in the sale price of the CPU, and the CPU market tends to be monopolized by only a few manufacturer giants.
Furthermore, the operating system programs consist of huge and complex program assemblies, so it is unlike a common small customized hardware error inspection program which can simulate and detect for errors in an electronic design automation (EDA) tool. Therefore, with the complex and huge operating system programs, how to simulate only parts, where an error occurs when being executed by the CPU, of the operating system programs in the EDA tool for detecting a defect of the CPU becomes very important.
Accordingly, an urgent need exists in the art to provide a solution capable of detecting a defect of a CPU in an effective but economical way so as to reduce the complexity and minimize the cost associated with the detection.